Editorial: Covid vaccine is not for everyone; don’t get immunized if you’re not on this list – Ripon Commonwealth Press

The war on Covid has included battles against denials, anti-masking and science relativism.

Now its waged in the theater of vaccine hesitancy.

In the quest for herd immunity 70 to 85% vaccinated, which only slows but doesnt eliminate the spread the battle is fierce as many refuse to be injected with viral armor branded as Pfizer, Moderna or J&J.

Good for them.

Vaccinations arent for everyone.

Individuals must deliberatively calculate on which side of the inoculation wall they want to plant their flags.

As of Tuesday, 44.5% of Wisconsin residents are vaccinated with at least one dose. That compares with 46% nationally (source: https://usafacts.org/visualizations/covid-vaccine-tracker-states/), and closer to home, 38.1% in Fond du Lac County and 39% in Green Lake County (source: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/vaccine-data.htm#residents).

For whatever reason, folks in this county and those to the west have less inclination to get vaccinated or less accessibility to vaccines than others statewide and nationally.

That may improve. But in the meantime, a critical component to the goal of achieving herd immunity is that the unvaccinated determine for themselves whether their personal concerns outweigh their opportunity to protect themselves and others.

On their decisions many will stake their desires to return to normalcy and their very lives as vaccine potency abates and evolving variants become more deadly and contagious.

Here then, is guidance for those inclined to take care of themselves while putting others at risk:

Please, dont get vaccinated if you are not a

Christian, Jew or members of another compassionate faith A central tenet to Christianity and Judaism is to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31 and Jerusalem Talmud Nedarim 9:1, respectively). If you care for your own welfare more than for the wellbeing of friends, family and strangers, dont worry about the vaccine. Just look out for No. 1.

Republican Republicans value maximum independence from big government, the nanny state and political correctness. They know that by being vaccinated they can pay less attention to edicts from the CDC, White House, state and county public health departments, and other Big Brother agencies, while enjoying the freedom that comes from being a beneficiary of the Trump administrations Operation Warp Speed.

Democrat Democrats penchant for social justice, particularly for the most vulnerable due to age, race or disability, make them want to achieve the Biden administrations goal, shared last week, of all Americans no matter their circumstances enjoying a regular life by July 4.

Parent Face it, not much in America seems to be going right these days. The country seems impotent as popular music is debased by smutty singers and lyrics, gun control is an oxymoron, the political chasm between and within parties is widening, mental illness was rising before Covid, adult name-calling is fashionable, racism is more overt and the government is on a spending bender while its youngest citizens are saddled with unsustainable debt. At least parents know that they can improve their childrens futures by modeling good behavior with a shot or two in their arm.

Friend Friends dont put their friends at risk and so they are horrified at the prospect of unwittingly passing on the virus due to their ignorance or indifference.

Warrior Soldiers in the battle against Covid wear uniforms of antigens to battle the virus while the timid and weak flee from needles to some sort of metaphorical Canada, where they declare themselves conscientious anti-injectors. And while they declare their independence from science, they ride on the coattails of those who choose to stay and fight.

* * *

So there you have it.

Christians and Jews, Republicans and Democrats, parents, friends and warriors: Covid vaccinations make perfect sense for you due to your values as they pertain to self, society and the common good.

All others will need to soul-search to determine why that person in the mirror knows more about immunology, epidemiology and virology than the experts who plead for us all to do the right thing.

Come on, Fond du Lac and Green Lake counties.

Lets exceed the national vaccination averages in our quest to vanquish the Covid enemy.

Tim Lyke

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Editorial: Covid vaccine is not for everyone; don't get immunized if you're not on this list - Ripon Commonwealth Press